This bust of Gargantua, a 6-foot-tall circus gorilla, was made from his death mask in 1971. It is on display at Cook's Natural Science museum in Decatur. (Kelly Kazek/kkazek@al,com)

DECATUR, Alabama – A bust made from the death mask of a 6-foot-tall gorilla named Gargantua and a bone from the leg of a circus elephant named Alice may not suggest romance to most people. But they are pivotal to the love story of John and Jo Cook, founders of Cook’s Pest Control and a natural science museum that has enthralled schoolchildren and tourists for decades.

Although John died in 2009, Eleanor “Jo” Cook still arrives regularly at her office at Cook’s Pest Control headquarters and enjoys the fact that children love to visit Cook’s Natural Science Museum, which began with training displays of bugs and termite-riddled wood and evolved into a place for children to learn about all kinds of wildlife and wildlife habitats.

The museum, which John stipulated should always offer free admission, includes a theater that shows a film of the history of the collection. Visitors can learn about nature by viewing exhibits of taxidermied wildlife, the intimidating skulls of hippos and rhinos, minerals and gems, and, of course, lots of insects.

Located at 412 13th Street SE, the museum is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, closed for lunch from noon to 1 p.m., and from 2 to 5 p.m. Sundays. Call 256-350-9347 for information.

In addition to the bust of Gargantua and Alice’s leg bone, two of the most unique exhibits are of a bald eagle and a golden eagle, which are federally protected birds.

A description of the museum at cookspest.com states: “Cook’s Natural Science Museum is one of the few private museums in the United States authorized by the federal government to include eagle exhibits in their collection. Rarer still is the fact that Cook’s Museum is one of the few museums in the U.S. to display both a bald eagle and a golden eagle.”

The gift of Alice

John and Jo married in 1946 when John left the service after World War II. He planned to be an architect and graduated from Georgia Tech in 1950. But his father’s death that year changed the course of his life. He returned to Decatur to fulfill termite-control guarantees made by his father for the family business, North Alabama Termite Co. The company, later renamed Cook’s Pest Control, would become the seventh largest pest control company in the United States.

John created a collection of bugs, insect damage and pest control devices to help train new workers. Cook’s Technical Training School was located in a Decatur warehouse. In 1980, John Cook built a museum to house the growing collection of insects and other artifacts he and Jo enjoyed collecting.

It became an educational site visited by more than 30,000 people each year.

Allison Fleming, who works at Cook's Natural Science Museum in Decatur, poses with a leg bone from Alice, an Asian elephant who performed in circuses. (Kelly Kazek/kkazek@al,com)

Schoolchildren are often amazed by the size of the elephant leg bone, which stands more than 6 feet tall.

John Cook recorded his wife’s version of the story of the elephant’s leg in his book “Employee Number 2: The Story of John Cook and Cook’s Pest Control.”

“While visiting a taxidermist in Stone Mountain, I realized he owned the leg bones of Alice, an elephant that I had seen in the Atlanta Zoo as a child,” she recalled. “To me, the bones were quite interesting and I thought they would intrigue the children, but to John, they were just plain ugly. One December when we made a return visit, I asked John if he had a Christmas present for me. ‘No,’ he said. So, I told him I wanted the elephant leg. After some negotiations on the price, I got my Christmas present. Since the taxidermist had bleached the bones, I prepared a quart of extremely strong coffee and painted them for a more natural look.”

Alice, an Asian elephant who was with the Clyde Beaty and Cole Brothers circuses, was at the Atlanta Zoo from 1940 until her death in April of 1971. Her age was estimated at 48 years old when she died.

The bones were preserved by renowned Atlanta taxidermist Joseph Hurt, with whom the Cooks developed a lasting relationship.

Gargantua comes to Decatur

Hurt, who did work for The Smithsonian Institution, Fernbank Science Center and Walt Disney World before his death in December of 2012, also was responsible for preserving Gargantua, known as one of the largest gorillas in captivity, for Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

The Cooks grandson, Brian Cook, said his grandparents saw the bust at Hurt’s workshop in Stone Mountain, Ga .

A bust of Gargantua, one of the largest gorillas in captivity at Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, is on display at Cook's Natural Science Museum in Decatur. (Kelly Kazek/kkazek@al.com)

“Mr. Hurt mounted Gargantua for Ringling Brothers and made a bust of him when he died,” Brian said. “My grandparents thought it was unusual and that children would be amazed by its size. Later, they found an actual circus promotion poster showcasing Gargantua and displayed them together.”

Gargantua, who died in 1971 at age 22, was actually known as Gargantua II or Gargantua “junior,” named for the gorilla credited with saving Barnum & Bailey’s Circus from bankruptcy in the 1940s. Though he was not as large as his successor, the first Gargantua, who lived from 1929-1949, was billed as a dangerous beast because of the perpetual snarl he had after someone threw acid in his face when he was younger.

Hurt was quoted in a 1985 New York Times story on an auction of the preserved Gargantua II: ''He's got a 72-inch waist, a 34-inch neck, a 54-inch chest and an arm- spread of 8 feet - that's a whopper.''

Join al.com reporter
Kelly Kazek on her weekly journey through north Alabama to record the region's
quirky history, strange roadside attractions and tales of colorful characters. Follow Kelly Kazek on Twitter. Email Kelly Kazek at kkazek@al.comor call 256-701-0576 or find her on Facebook.